Vaguely European
ABOUT THE FILM
An aspiring Croatian-American actress journeys to the homeland, with the conviction that crafting a film about her relatives will launch her career. Instead, a mythical forebear emerges, guiding her through a tangle of memories, inherited longing, and restless ambition–threads that ultimately expose how identity and creativity falter and transform when they collide with capitalist values.
the team
Katie Kopajtic (writer, director, producer)
Katie Kopajtic has been shaping stories for over a decade as a writer, filmmaker, and actor. Her work, while spanning mediums, consistently touches the tension of making art within the capitalist market. In between making “B.F.A. The Series” (2013) and “The Actor” (2017), she wrote and performed two solo shows at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe: “Confessions of a Personal Trainer” (2017), and “Modern Witches” (2023), a hybrid theatre and film performance.
Kopajtic is a graduate of the 2021 Tin House Summer Workshop. Both personal essays and fiction have been published in acclaimed journals such as cream city review, Electric Literature, Catapult, The Future Fire, and in 2024 her short audio play ‘Happy Atonement!’ was produced by No Sleep Podcast (over two million monthly listeners).
Katherin Machalek (editor, producer)
Katherin Machalek is a documentary producer and founder of Moondust, a boutique production company based in Copenhagen. She is known for storytelling that appeals to trans-atlantic audiences, with a focus on creative journeys and their intersections with political and historical contexts. Currently, she is producing A Grain of Truth, Peabody Award-winning director Vivian Kleiman’s forth-coming film, Heritage Fantasy by Katie Kopajtic, and her own feature debut Sunshine State. Katherin‘s productions include, Welcome (Chicago South Asian Film Festival, 2021), I Was Here First (DOC NYC, UnionDocs, 2015), and CLIM8 (Altitudes Festival, 2014) among others. Additionally, as a crew member she has contributed to numerous other films, including the Sundance award-winning documentary The Russian Woodpecker (2015).